ABSTRACT
This handbook seeks to provide a sense of what we know about one of the most important social, cultural, and political institutions: journalism.
Journalism has been around “since people recognized a need to share information about themselves with others” (Zelizer, 2004, p. 2). However, the study of journalism is a more recent phenomenon. There are several reasons why the study of journalism is a worthwhile endeavor for scholars. First, news shapes the way we see the world, ourselves and each other. It is the stories of journalists that construct and maintain our shared realities (cf. Carey, 1989). Because of this, news can become a singularly important form of social glue; our consumption of stories about current events large and small binds us together in an “imagined community” (Anderson, 1983) of co-readers. Through the rituals of consuming and discussing the texts of journalism we come to understand and construct ourselves as subjects within local, national and, increasingly, global contexts. In particular, journalism is seen as intrinsically tied to democracy. It plays a key role in shaping our identities as citizens, making possible the conversations and deliberations between and among citizens and their representatives so essential to successful self-governance. In short, news is “the stuff which makes political action [...] possible” (Park, 1940, p. 678).
